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Worth a visit

The Coach & Horses in Dersingham, Norfolk is a fairly typical English village pub. With a cosy bar, beer garden and real ales, it could be in any village in England.

I visited the Coach & Horses recently while on a long weekend at Sandringham with my parents. The evening we visited the Coach & Horses, it had been a very hot day and was continuing into a hot evening - this was in early July. We considered sitting outside, but there were no free tables under the gazebo or with parasols, and as the sun was still strong we decided to sit in the bar. And started sweating. All the doors and windows were open, but there were no fans and it felt like the open windows were providing no ventilation on such a hot day.

We settled down however, with a drink and to read the menu. I had a pint of Aspalls cider, my favourite, which always moves a pub up in my estimation when they serve it, and my mum had her customary ginger beer and lime. My dad had trouble choosing between the real ales on offer, but eventually opted for the £2 a pint special price on Surf Sup, which he was happy with.

I made a bad choice with my meal. Having mulled over the few veggie and fish options, I chose the spinach and ricotta cannelloni, served with salad and chips. There was nothing wrong with the food, in fact it was very tasty indeed. But the cannelloni was served in one of those little terracotta-coloured oven dishes, which held in the heat of an already very hot dish. A meal like that in hot weather was not wise. My dad was happy with his gammon steak though, and my mum enjoyed her salmon with dill and pine nuts although she did comment that she has had nicer dressings on salmon - she liked this but it wasn't as much to her liking as others.

The Coach & Horses was a pleasant environment for a meal. It had a nice, relaxed atmosphere, a mix of local pub and a place for visitors. There were other customers eating, some who appeared to be local and other tourists like us. The service was good, the waitress was very friendly and clearly liked chatting with all her customers, but she wasn't intrusive and didn't overstay her welcome.

I would certainly recommend a visit to the Coach & Horses. It was good value for money (average £9 for a main course), good food and drink and a nice place to eat, although far too hot on the day we visited.